Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Observations

How did you spend your inauguration day?

7:37 - I drag the small TV from my home office into my office office and can only get in CBS with the antenna. My entire inaugural day experience is now solely in the hands of Katie Couric. Speaking of Katie... her eye's look fantastic even on my slightly staticy reception. What is up with her hair though??

9:35 - I still haven't been able to wrap my head around all of this. I keep expecting it to hit me like a big ton of bricks, but so far it's all still surreal.

10:19 - Hey, Announcer Dude, it Rose-a-lin Carter, not Roz-a-lin. But I do like the matching purple scarves on the elder Bushes. Katie says it's because red and blue make purple. Cute.

10:35 - Is it just me, or does Dick Cheney in that wheelchair look remarkably like Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life?

11:06 - Is anyone else glad to see Obama flub the oath? I mean, not glad in a schadenfreudean way, but in an endearing human moment sort of way... Oh wait... according to Katie, the Chief Justice screwed it up. Still kinda cute. Oh wait (again)... the Chief Justice didn't even write it down?! Not at all cute. Kinda jack-assy actually.

11:12 - Inaugural address is not the bone-shaking, tear-inducing piece of oratory magnificence that I've heard from him before. But maybe that's a good thing...

11:28 - I've tried to stay neutral and keep my mouth shut about Rick Warren. My only comment on the subject now is going to be that Rev. Lowery's benediction totally kicked Rick Warren's invocation's ass.

11:33 - Friend calls to ask "Have you cried enough yet?" You know, I don't think I have. Knowing me I'll wait until a week or so from now and break into hysterics while in line at the grocery store.

11:39 - One last fly-over by our OUTGOING PRESIDENT!!!! If only there had been a screen door on the White House to hit him in the ass on the way out...

12:10 - Do they always do a luncheon? Is it just not normally televised? Are we really going to watch him eat? OK... I guess we are... Oh good, MY lunch just showed up. I'm going to go watch myself eat instead.

1:41 - I call a co-worker in to watch because someone (I'm looking at you, Couric) indicated that the parade would be starting shortly. But no. It's a continuation of people eating and then a very odd presentation of gifts. We keep watching for a few more minutes Mystery Science Theater 3000 style: "What - do they have a Walgreens inside the White House?" (regarding the framed photos of the swearing-in). "And now the bestowing of the bowls" (what were those things??) And then capped it off with a mock imitation of Feinstein as though the toast she's giving is all Crazy Drunken Aunt Dianne at a Wedding Reception. (Our apologies to Sen. Kennedy - in our defense we tuned in after he became ill and I'm very happy he seems to be doing better now.) We then give up and go back to actually working.

1:53 - Dude, did you hear all of the features on the presidential limo? Cra-zy. And check out the flanking Suburbans with three secret service people hanging off each side. THAT should be the only justification for buying one of those damn things: "Do your everyday activities require a security detail? Yes? OK - but do they need to travel along with you on the OUTSIDE of the vehicle? No? Well, then I'm sorry - no ginormous SUV for you!"

2 something (I've stopped keeping track) - They got out of the limo! Gotta say - watching you walk is so much better than watching you eat. There is a unanimous decision in the office that 1) the screaming is Beatle-esque; 2) while we really like Michelle's outfit (especially the color) we're not thrilled with the green gloves. (I later lighten up on the gloves when I find out that they match her green Jimmy Choos); and 3) Katie didn't really need to tell us that Barack has long underwear on under his suit.

3:00 - Just as the parade gets going, our CBS affiliate goes to local news. What the hell am I going to do now?? Oh yeah. Work.

Sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 - 45 people (give or take a one or two) arrive at my mother and step-father's house to bask in the glow of the day. It's especially fitting as on this day eight years ago we had a similar number of people in their house for a wake. For Democracy. The invitation was an obituary. In lieu of flowers you were asked to bring a covered dish. Everyone wore black and some of us played drinking games while watching the inaugural balls. Good times. But tonight is better.

9ish - We watch them dance at another ball and comment again on how pretty her gown is. For the first time today I'm watching a television with cable. All that means, however, is instead of being told that Obama is wearing long underwear, Matthews and Obermann won't stop obsessing about his dancing. I make a comment that I don't think we've ever had a first lady wear an off-the-shoulder or strapless-ish inaugural gown. I'm immediately corrected by a couple of gay friends who inform me that, in fact, Nancy Reagan wore a white one-shouldered gown for her first inaugural ball. AND that technically Obama should be wearing tails if he's wearing a white tie. See! He's not perfect. The whiners in the world can lighten up now.

11:00 - I finally get home. I want to watch Craig Ferguson and hear his witty comments on the day's events, but its not on for another 30 minutes. I decide to rest on the couch and watch a rerun of "That 70's Show" on WB until it starts. "Hey look - Jackie's wearing a sweater exactly like the one I wore in my 6th grade class pict... zzzzzzzz..."

Wish I'd Said That

“We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama"Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked."
- Jane Austen

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one."
- Eleanor Roosevelt"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
-Catherine Aird

"Now I see the secret of making the best person: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." - Walt Whitman"You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."
— Anne Lamott"Only after the last tree has been cut down.
Only after the last river has been poisoned.
Only after the last fish has been caught.
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." - Native Cree Saying